Much of my life path as has consisted of gathering information and immersing in colorful experiences with different people, places, spiritual traditions, and languages from around the world.
Since age 16, I’ve criss-crossed places like China, Japan, Taiwan Israel, Spain, France, Turkey, Mexico, Costa Rica, devoted a decade of life to Buddhist meditation and practice while studying a wide array of ancient religious scriptures from the East, and have immersed in the plant medicine world for a decade, receiving support to bring lost soul parts back home to my body.
I’m devoted to extracting the good medicine and wisdom gems . . . and using them to improve my life and the lives of others.
This has often required discarding outdated patriarchal and cultural wrappings that come with much of what I’ve been exposed to, and then integrating the different systems together.
When I was in academia (studying for a PhD in Buddhism), most of the traditional monks and nuns I met in China and Taiwan couldn’t really wrap their head around me studying Buddhism at an American university. One monk scoffed when I told him I “researched” Buddhism.
So, although I was often perceived as too “stuffy academic” to vibe with the on-the-ground Buddhists in Asia, I also felt too “woo woo spiritual” for my Ivy League colleages.
It was basically taboo for us academics to talk about our own practice of religion/spirituality, and discussing our personal belief or faith was even more unheard of.
Whatever spirituality we practiced at home, was our private business, but in the walls of the academy, we were to approach religion scientifically. Only what could be observed with our eyes mattered, and devotees of spiritual traditions were observed “objectively” like specimens.
When it came to ancient texts, we could make analytical and interpretive conclusions based on what was written and the historical context, but not based on our own ideas drawn from personal spiritual experiences.
We were trained as scientists, materialists, NOT artists or mystics.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲’𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 in my 7th year of graduate studies, 1-2 years shy of reaching PhD status.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. I wasn’t a doctor, or a teacher, or a dentist, or an accountant, or anything else reasonable to an Asian family. I was getting a PhD (score!), but in . . . Buddhism! WTF?
Most of my mom’s Chnese friends thought I must be ugly or abnormally introverted, or have some other biological or social defects – because 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬. They’d be shocked when they’d see a picture of me – I was not how they imagined.
Yet another discrepancy I had to resolve for myself came with my experience 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝐬.
Although the 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 was ON POINT (this is really Buddhism’s specialty, in my opinion), there was basically 𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.
It was obvious that this tradition had developed over centuries in the East (India, China, Tibet etc.) – not in the West, and certainly not in modern America.
It spoke to some aspects of myself, but 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 and my emotional body and nervous system were not being nourished at pace with my mind and spirit.
It was only in 2013 when I first began to work with 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐲𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. It was a difficult and painful process, but I was dedicated.
𝐌eanwhile, m𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 “𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥” 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 once I chose to leave the golden path of academia.
And 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐢 𝐦𝐚𝐧 unfortunately didn’t survive my/our heart openings ❤️ particularly when I began to consciously work with my womb center. (We were preparing to have children together.)
Overall, my past decade of life has been about finding my place, my home, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, and in my own way.
𝐈 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑-𝟏𝟒 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨. Her business, The Life Coach School, is an industry forerunner, earning 50 million dollars last year. I was blessed to be part of her humble beginnings, when she was still personally giving us weekly homework feedback via email. 🙂
Brooke’s 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡 meshed well with my Buddhist mind training, and I gradually learned to integrate these both with the 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐁 I was opening within myself. 🌈
I’ve now worked with hundreds of women around the world in private and group settings, and continue to develop my craft with each passing year. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, and am devoted to opening this door wider for more gifted women to walk with me.
For all of you entrepreneurial women out there 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫, 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫, I know you’ve had your own unique journey of challenges and triumphs. I know you have a multi-chapter story behind WHY you do what you do.
𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞. 🌍
If you resonate with the frequency of my vortex 😉 and want to join a council of 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 through the rest of this year I invite you to check out my new virtual program 𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐃𝐄𝐒. 🌹
We begin October 22nd. ⭐ Learn more here: https://www.stephanielyralin.com/liberateyourcodes/